Ward Armstrong Forgets Who His Opponent Is
By Jason Johnson | Monday, September 19th, 2011 | PoliticsGranted, he’s not “from” the district, but you would still expect Del. Ward Armstrong to know who he would be challenging after he decided to run in the 9th House District. Apparently, Del. Armstrong thinks Appalachian Power is the current occupant of the 9th District seat because both of the ads he has aired during this campaign have hit on his favorite (or only) issue: Appalachian Power’s rate increases.
In his first ad–a very well-done biographical ad co-starring his 95 year-old mother–Del. Armstrong vows to keep fighting APCO “until they stop raising rates.”
In his second ad, Del. Armstrong goes all-in with the APCO rate increase issue. What’s missing from both ads? Any mention of his real opponent, Del. Charles Poindexter. Does Del. Armstrong not want to compare records with a conservative Republican in a district Gov. McDonnell won in 2009 or does he realize that this populist issue is all he has going for him this year?
Del. Armstrong can’t tie Del. Poindexter to APCO because the Poindexter campaign has not yet received contributions from Appalachian Power. Furthermore, before being elected to the House of Delegates, Charles Poindexter–then a member of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors–worked to protect his constituents from what he and others in the Smith Mountain Lake-area believed were unnecessarily onerous restrictions placed on lakefront property owners by American Electric Power (APCO’s parent company), which holds the license to operate electricity-generating facilities on Smith Mountain Lake. If Del. Armstrong is attempting to make the case that a vote for Poindexter is a vote for Appalachian Power, he should probably rethink that strategy.
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A lifelong political junkie, Jason caught the political bug as a fifth grader after meeting George Allen in 1993. Since then he has studied political science at both the undergraduate and graduate level. When not perusing the blogs or volunteering for conservative Republicans, Jason enjoys cheering on his beloved Virginia Tech Hokies and spending time at his Bedford County home.
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3 Responses to "Ward Armstrong Forgets Who His Opponent Is"
More people in the district know who APCO Is.
I can assure you that Ward Armstrong is smart enough to read a poll and understand what it means.
I’d guess from his initial strategy that he’s got one that says people in this district are real mad about APCO’s rate increases.
Jim Gilmore’s “No Car Tax” ads didn’t mention his opponent either.
I don’t doubt Del. Armstrong’s intelligence or that there’s a reason he’s pursuing this strategy (and with over $600,000 he can certainly afford to pursue any strategy he wants). It will, though, be interesting to see if he beats the APCO drum for the duration of this campaign or if he will eventually transition to other issues. It’s also interesting that in a year seemingly dominated by jobs, the economy and spending/cuts, Del. Armstrong wants to talk about electric bills…like you say, he must know something.
Sounds like democrat Armstrong is running against Barry and his “green democrats”. Barry and the “green democrats” want electric prices to “skyrocket” upwards. That is the policy. The more so called “green energy” you use, the more electric costs will increase.
Higher electric prices are needed to pay for things like Solyndra/Kaiser.
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